Proposition 8

If California's Proposition 8 passes, the following text would be added to the text of Section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution: Only marriage between a man and a woman is recognized in California. It sought to return traditional marriage to the state.

Proposition 8 was in response to the four California Supreme Court Justices overturning the will of the people who voted in 2000 on Proposition 22 that marriage was between a man and a woman. Proposition 22 passed easily with 61% of the vote. It was overturned by the Court and in May of 2008 gay marriage was legalized by judicial degree, not by the will of the voters or the legislature.

With over 70 million dollars being spent by both sides, it became one of the most expensive campaign on a social proposition in history.

With 99% of the precincts in, the measure apparently was passed 52% to 48%. While much was made of the fact that it was losing in the polls up until the time of the election, proponents pointed out that similar measures were often reported as polling poorly, but the actual vote was different. For instance Proposition 22 was supposed to be too close to call in 2000. Although it had been claimed that minority voters were against the message, exit polling on election day showed that latinos favored it overall while blacks favored it with a 70% yes vote. The large number of blacks who came out to vote for Barack Obama helped to tip the scale for Proposition 8's passing, even though Obama himself said to vote against it.

Unfortunately the Democratic process alone is not sufficient to some. Supporters of gay marriage vandalized Yes on 8 signs, delivered hate mail, and ultimately death threats, causing at least one top supporter of Proposition 8 to hire a bodyguard. Ultimately the realization that the people had spoken led to protests and arrests.

Due to the passage of Proposition 8, homosexual marriages are no longer being granted in California.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown believes marriages that were performed before Proposition 8 passed are still valid. Others have postulated the marriages may be converted into gay civil unions, which in California have the same rights as marriage. The leaders of the Proposition 8 petition have not taken a position in this matter.